1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus power restart method that utilizes network disconnection status detection; in particular, the present invention relates to a configuration of a network connection detection circuit in a power control apparatus in order to control power switching of connected devices based on the network connection status.
2. Description of Related Art
Taking as an example the most commonly used network connection approach at present, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), whereby a user uses a modem, also known as ATU-R (ADSL Terminal Unit-Remote), to connect to the gateway of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) through telephone lines, thereby connecting to the Internet. If stable connections need to be maintained over prolonged periods of time such as during website installation or large data download, then the quality of the network connection may not be sufficient in the case of general home-use network devices such as a conventional modem or a conventional network sharer.
FIG. 1 is a schematic connection diagram showing various general home-used network devices according to the prior art, wherein a router 12 and a modem 14 are connected to a multi-outlet power socket 10 so as to connect to a power source. The router 12 can be a general wireless network sharer, with computers 101, 103 being able to access network data via the router 12 and obtain internet protocol addresses (IP addresses). The computers 101, 103 can connect to the Internet 18 through these network devices.
The aforementioned power socket 10 is simply an extension of a power source, and provides the required electric power to each network device wired to the power socket 10 without any recovery mechanism, such as a failover feature.
In view of the aforementioned network website installation, large data download, etc, with the requirement of long period of network connection, each network device needs to be powered-on for an extend length of time; but, however, such factors are usually not taken under commercial consideration for general house-hold network products, under unstable conditions, in case of occurrence of network disconnection, such as failure in the modem or network sharer (or router), network disconnection with remote computers would occur; usually, upon such a condition of network disconnection, the user needs to personally re-run dialup/connection software, or restart the power to the apparatus, in order to perform reset operation, thereby allowing the restoration of network connection to the original connection status. Due to the incapacity of the network-related devices to troubleshoot themselves, the problem of disconnection cannot be resolved immediately unless a user is present that can assist to clear such errors. The above limitation of requiring user intervention to reset and re-connect network connection is an area that can be improved.